Biomagnetic Techniques for Assessing Gastric and Small Bowel Electrical Activity

Recent advances in electrophysiology of the gastrointestinal tract have emphasized the need for methods of noninvasive assessment of gastric and small intestinal electrical activity (GEA and IEA). While the cutaneous electrogastrogram (EGG) may reveal the frequency dynamics of gastric electrical activity, other parameters important for characterizing the propagating electrical activity are not available from EGG recordings. Recent studies on the electroenterogram (EENG) are promising, but low-conductivity abdominal layers have complicated the identification of small intestinal electrical rhythms in cutaneous recordings. The magnetogastrogram (MGG) and magnetoenterogram (MENG) are able to characterize gastric and intestinal electrical activity noninvasively in terms of its frequency, power and characteristics of its propagation. Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometers are used to detect the minute magnetic fields associated with electrical activity of the gastrointestinal syncytium formed by interstitial cells of Cajal and smooth muscle networks. Changes in GEA and IEA that occur in response to disease or abnormal conditions are reflected in MGG and MENG signals. Magnetic methods for assessing the electrical activity of the stomach and small bowel thus show great clinical promise.